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Topic: Style=Time (Read 4378 times)

It is almost impossible to break down pizza styles by objective observations. There is one thing that is true no matter what ingredients, sauce, dough formulation, or toppings are used and that is the time of the bake. Therefore, I hereby decree and declare that from now on we will use the following to determine what the hell you are cooking:

Thanks Tom. I feel better already. No more worrying. No more therapist's couch, hypnosis, or intervention treatments! Of course, that's just me. I hope I just had a mild case. There might be others who need more help...

Tom, I do like your insight as to time/stlye. Seems odd to me though as the one who claims the pizza does not care where the heat comes from. I have always thought that the oven determines partially what comes out of it. -Marc

Pizza doesn't care where the heat comes from, but it DOES care how long it is applied and at what temp (which is generally related). That is really the only thing that can be used to define a style (other than things like shape).

Pizza doesn't care where the heat comes from, but it DOES care how long it is applied and at what temp (which is generally related). That is really the only thing that can be used to define a style (other than things like shape).

Pizza does care about the form of heat (i.e. convection, conduction, IR), and that may be related to where the heat comes from.

Logged

"We make great pizza, with sourdough when we can, commercial yeast when we must, but always great pizza." Craig's Neapolitan Garage

scott123

Yes, Chau makes a good point. Along the "generalist hominy" lines that Tom mentioned, as you delve into the details, this can get quite complex.

While a second beyond 2 minutes causes a pizza to no longer be classifiable as Neapolitan, imo, New York's 3-6 minutes is more of a sweet spot than a firm definition. Good NY happens in 3-6, while mediocre NY happens from 6-12.

When you get into coal, it really gets hairy. Coal can range from 2.5 to 7 minutes, and, because of the forced air aspect, it relies heavily on convection, which, in turn, causes it to be the most oven specific of all the styles.

I wonder what Reinhart doughs that are baked in a WFO for about 1 ½ minutes, or a Reinhart dough that is baked in a deck oven for about 6 minutes are called. Both can be quite tasty in my opinion, but are they then both called American style?

scott123

I wonder what Reinhart doughs that are baked in a WFO for about 1 ½ minutes, or a Reinhart dough that is baked in a deck oven for about 6 minutes are called. Both can be quite tasty in my opinion, but are they then both called American style?

Reinopolitan? Rein-York Style?

Seriously, though, Reinhart has a Neapolitan dough recipe that is AP and 66% hydration. I know what Marco would say, and 66 is pretty darn high, but it might fall under the wire. I think the final criteria would be appearance. If it were leoparded, with a puffy crumb and no gum line (higher hydration creates a bigger potential for gum lines), then I think it might be close.

His high sugar high oil 'NY' dough, even if baked for 4 minutes, would still be, due to the quantity of ingredients, American.

It is almost impossible to break down pizza styles by objective observations. There is one thing that is true no matter what ingredients, sauce, dough formulation, or toppings are used and that is the time of the bake. Therefore, I hereby decree and declare that from now on we will use the following to determine what the hell you are cooking:

Seriously, though, Reinhart has a Neapolitan dough recipe that is AP and 66% hydration. I know what Marco would say, and 66 is pretty darn high, but it might fall under the wire. I think the final criteria would be appearance. If it were leoparded, with a puffy crumb and no gum line (higher hydration creates a bigger potential for gum lines), then I think it might be close.

His high sugar high oil 'NY' dough, even if baked for 4 minutes, would still be, due to the quantity of ingredients, American.